Prince William to leave Kate and George for 10 weeks to study at Cambridge
PRINCE William is to study agricultural management at Cambridge University for 10 weeks to prepare himself for a future role overseeing the Duchy of Cornwall estate.
Either way, William’s wife, Kate, who celebrates her 32nd birthday on January 9, will be left undertaking most of the parental responsibilities, looking after Prince George at their Kensington Palace home for the next 10 weeks.
After a busy schedule of official duties in the run-up to Christmas, she will step up her royal duties from the spring. But before then, she will only take part in a small number of official engagements. “For the Duchess, the next 10 weeks is about focusing on baby George,” a royal source said.
The executive education course in agricultural management has been designed for William by the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge, which specialises in arranging bespoke courses for individuals and companies.
Palace officials said the costs, which will run into “several thousands of pounds” according to the university, will be met privately, either by William or his father Prince Charles. The course does not lead to a formal qualification.
of seminars, lectures and meetings will draw on the strengths of academics across the university. It will start in early January and run until mid-March.
“The course has been designed to help provide the Duke with an understanding of contemporary issues affecting agricultural business and rural communities in the United Kingdom.”
William, who is expected to undertake a handful of official royal duties while he is studying, will be given tuition in how to run a big estate like the Duchy of Cornwall, a £763 million 130,000-acre portfolio of land, property and investments he will inherit from his father when Charles becomes king.
Palace officials prefer not to speak directly about the day when the Queen dies but one acknowledged that this was all about preparing William to run the Duchy, an hereditary estate created in 1337 to provide a private income for the monarch’s eldest son: “The course will be useful to the Duke later in life,” he said.
In September, when William announced he was quitting his operational role as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot, palace officials said he would spend part of the next 12 months – described as a “transitional year” - learning more about managing the Duchy. “This has been planned since September,” an aide said.
In April he and Kate will spend almost a month touring New Zealand and then Australia. Later the second in line to the throne hopes to go to Kenya, learning more about the fight to save threatened species such as elephants and rhino from poachers.
By September, he is expected to start a two or three year role in public service, perhaps with a Government department such as the Foreign Office, or a major charity.
In between all of that, he and Kate will also undertake a programme of official royal engagements in Britain.